It took a year after being sick but...

[Z28Taxman]

Ditto's diet preferences have returned to what they used to be.

Before he got sick from swallowing that string and the yeast infection it caused, Ditto ate mostly avi-cakes and a few nutriberries per day. Occasionally he'd switch for a few days but always back to the avi-cakes. With a few pellets as a snack (mostly right before bedtime).

When he got sick he dicided to switch to the veggie nutriberries and nibble on avi-cakes while refusing the el-paso nutriberries altoghether. I stopped giving him the fruit based ones since I didn't want to feed the yeast all that fruit sugar.

As he got over the yeast (and after pooping a well digested almost 2 inch piece of string :omg:) he started eating more of the avi-cakes but still preferring the veggie berries.

I tried adding the el-paso's back in but he threw a temper tantrum and tossed 'em all out. He'll nibble on them if they're in my hand but in the bowl they're evil :evil: . He will eat the fruity ones again though but not in huge amounts although he never did. They're more of a snack.

As the months went by the ration of avi-cakes to nutriberries slowly changed and he was then eating about the same amount of each.

Now however, he seems to be back to where he was almost a year and a half ago (and what he ate for 8 years). 6 or so avi-cakes per day and maybe 3 or 4 nutriberries with pellets for snack (vet suggest them to clear up a slight vitamin a deficiency). The vit-a deficiency was about 4 years ago and he's been fine since so the few pellets must be working. He doesn't eat many of them, a 2 pound bag of zupreem harvest feast goes out of date before he finishes all of them (that gets expensive but I can't find smaller).

So the little guy is doing great! :happy::happy::happy:

And his hormones haven't been as bad this year. He still gacks and does the clicky clicky, spin, scratch, ring the bell and pretend to feed a toy, but he hasn't made a mess of any of the toys.

[summoora]

LOL I hope his hormones are levelling out at 9 and a half years! (that's how old he is, right?) He's almost out of the hormonal age range for amazons (thanks to pbird for that trivia)!

how did he manage to swallow a two inch piece of string? :omg:
I mean, I can see him swallowing part of it and gagging on it, but you'd really have to wad up a string that long to swallow it all, even for a human. I mean, did he poop it in a wad? or did it take like an entire day for it all to come out? :confused:
Those strings are no joke.

I'm glad he's back to his old self!

[Z28Taxman]

LOL I hope his hormones are levelling out at 9 and a half years! (that's how old he is, right?) He's almost out of the hormonal age range for amazons (thanks to pbird for that trivia)!

how did he manage to swallow a two inch piece of string? :omg:
I mean, I can see him swallowing part of it and gagging on it, but you'd really have to wad up a string that long to swallow it all, even for a human. I mean, did he poop it in a wad? or did it take like an entire day for it all to come out? :confused:
Those strings are no joke.

I'm glad he's back to his old self!

He's 9 years and a few weeks (but you wouldn't know it by how hyper he is).

Yep, a 1.5-2 inch piece of string. I have no idea how he swallowed it but the only toy it could have come from is long gone. He pooped it out as a long strand. He went to bed in his happy hut at his normal 10:30ish time and about midnight he squawked and came out of his hut. I turned on the light and saw an inch and a half or so long poop hanging from his uhhhh, butt. When he jumped to the boing it fell and I examined it and found the poop covered string. It pulled apart easily so it had been in there long enough to be digested quite well.

Good thing he did too because he was going in to the vet for barium x-rays to find out what's going on in there causing the yeast infection and pooping whole seeds! :omg:

[summoora]

Ech! I would say that has to hurt, but females push complete eggs from their cloaca, so maybe not so ouch? Anyway, that sounds like it really sucked for him! Fabric is not good when left in the body, it seems. At least there are no coins small enough for lovies to swallow. We'd really be in trouble then!

[michael]

You know Dave, if you lived any closer, i'd swap ya those Elpaso's for some Veggie ones. Goof used to prefer the Veggieberries, but lately he prefers the Elpaso's. .. I think its time to order a sample package from Lafeber's and maybe try to sort this stuff out. .. As for those two pound bags of Zupreem. ..I have the same problem finding small bags of Roundybush mini's. Besides the chance the larger bags may stale a bit, almost a fourth of what you get is powder. Just like the powder they leave after eating them. Talk about a waste! .. Now those hormones? .. Goof's pushin about twelve years right now, and most his seem to have subsided. Beeber's on the other hand, is a bit over eleven, and still going strong! ............:omg:

[Z28Taxman]

I think Ditto and Goofy are conspiring to drive us nuts! :lol

The zupreem pellets don't seem to have any powder in the bag. Now what's left in the bowl is a different story. And Ditto really likes the dried fruit and veggie bits in with the pellets. It's good stuff (even smells good to me) but at almost $20 a bag it's pricey.

[summoora]

You know Dave, if you lived any closer, i'd swap ya those Elpaso's for some Veggie ones. Goof used to prefer the Veggieberries, but lately he prefers the Elpaso's. .. I think its time to order a sample package from Lafeber's and maybe try to sort this stuff out. .. As for those two pound bags of Zupreem. ..I have the same problem finding small bags of Roundybush mini's. Besides the chance the larger bags may stale a bit, almost a fourth of what you get is powder. Just like the powder they leave after eating them. Talk about a waste! .. Now those hormones? .. Goof's pushin about twelve years right now, and most his seem to have subsided. Beeber's on the other hand, is a bit over eleven, and still going strong! ............:omg:

I read somewhere about adding the powder left over in the bowl (and of course the bag would work even better) to your next batch of birdie bread. I don't know if either of you are birdie-bakers, but that's one way to get rid of it. :)

[michael]

I read somewhere about adding the powder left over in the bowl (and of course the bag would work even better) to your next batch of birdie bread. I don't know if either of you are birdie-bakers, but that's one way to get rid of it. :)

Often recommended, I tried adding whole pellets right into their cornbread. Total rejection. When I later tried adding the powder to their birdy bread, neither one appeared to enjoy that either. .. Did try adding the powder to eggs, but that didn't go over too well. Brown rice, no way. .. All I can gather is, my birds are very particular. For instance, if I so much as add a couple drops of Sunshine Factor to their birdy bread, they'll sniff it out in a heartbeat. For some stubborn birds though, its still worth a try. Although I do kinda feel that may be adding a bit too much nutrition.

[summoora]

I was going to say something about the too much nutrition thing, but it seemed kind of silly to bring up a suggestion just to shoot it down in the same post lol.
your birds sound intimidating :rotfl

[michael]

I hadn't never thought about the addition of pellets to birdybread having too much nutrition until my vet brought it up. He stated its better to add chopped veggies than more carbohydrates. Of course, my little buggers manage to leave those behind too. .. Intimidating? No. Just typical stubborn lovebirds who were never introduced to anything but seeds..........:(

[Z28Taxman]

I hadn't never thought about the addition of pellets to birdybread having too much nutrition until my vet brought it up. He stated its better to add chopped veggies than more carbohydrates. Of course, my little buggers manage to leave those behind too. .. Intimidating? No. Just typical stubborn lovebirds who were never introduced to anything but seeds..........:(

Ditto loves the veggies in his birdy bread. He eats those first then nibbles on the bread.

[summoora]

I hadn't never thought about the addition of pellets to birdybread having too much nutrition until my vet brought it up. He stated its better to add chopped veggies than more carbohydrates. Of course, my little buggers manage to leave those behind too. .. Intimidating? No. Just typical stubborn lovebirds who were never introduced to anything but seeds..........:(
Oh! I thought you were one of the breeders, don't know why? I thought of the too much nutrition thing because it's been discussed recently. Either you or Linda brought up that your vets considered it "too much nutrition." I don't know why I can't get over that phrase. I find it hilarious.

[Z28Taxman]

I swear he's eating twice his weight in avi-cakes every day! :omg:

But he's eating a bit more of the nutriberries than last week. Although he thinks he's being sneaky. I was in the kitchen getting ready to get his dinner. And I heard a nutriberry hit the grate. In the time it took me to turn my head he had hopped back onto his swing and was looking sweet and innocent. :whistle: Then when I turned away he hopped back to the food bowl, quick fling a berry and zoom right back. :rotfl Silly bird, it's kind of hard to be sneaky like that when you're the only one in the cage. :nyah:

[summoora]

hahaha, it was selective gravity. :rotfl

[lemonypickett]

Dave, try WWW.thatpetplace.com - I swear I was paying $11 for a bag of zupreem and avicakes are.like 4 dollars! Free.shipping if you spend #49!

[Z28Taxman]

Dave, try WWW.thatpetplace.com - I swear I was paying $11 for a bag of zupreem and avicakes are.like 4 dollars! Free.shipping if you spend #49!

I could actually drive there. It's only 25 miles away. That store is huge, some shopping malls are smaller.

[summoora]

lol you'll save on shipping

[Z28Taxman]

lol you'll save on shipping

Except it would probably cost more for gas than just going to petsmart.

[thebubbleking]

thats because of the beasts you drive! lol

[Z28Taxman]

thats because of the beasts you drive! lol

Well I didn't buy them for gas mileage! :lol